A report published today by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law shows that 53% of transgender youth between the ages of 13 and 17 in the U.S.— approximately 382,800 young people — live in 29 states with laws or policies that restrict their access to gender-affirming care, sports, bathrooms and facilities or restrict the use of gender-affirming pronouns in schools.
In 2025 alone, 24 states enacted or expanded at least one type of restrictive legislation, the report's authors said.
At the same time, nearly 40% of the estimated 724,000 youth who identify as transgender in the U.S. — or 285,300 teens — live in 17 states and Washington, D.C., where "shield laws" protect their access to gender-affirming care.
The report also reveals stark regional differences when it comes to legislation affecting transgender youth. For example, 95% of transgender teens in the South and 51% in the Midwest live in a state with at least one restrictive law or policy, while 83% in the West and 74% in the Northeast reside in a state with a shield law.
"For the past few years, we have witnessed a trend of escalating state legislation affecting transgender youth," said the report's lead author, Joshua Arrayales, a law fellow at the Williams Institute. "The resulting patchwork of laws and policies is creating very different lived realities for transgender youth across the United States."
To read the full report — including detailed state-level information on restrictive policies and shield laws — visit the Williams Institute website.
